Man's 'Waking Dream' Leads To Novel Insight On How Mushrooms Could Save The World's Bees

[Judi Lynn]

8 October 2018, 10:55 pm EDT By Athena Chan Tech Times

A man’s “waking dream” is now the subject of research at the Washington State University as a possible means to save the world’s bees. It all began years ago when he observed the bees sipping on his mushrooms’ mycelium.

‘Waking Dream’
Saving the world’s bees is a significant topic of conversation, as the pollinators continue to suffer from various threats. Efforts have been made to help the bee population survive and thrive once more, but it has not been easy as not all of the efforts to save the bees have been greatly successful.

In 1984, Paul Stamets of Fungi Perfecti noticed a “convoy of bees” traveling from his mushrooms to their beehives. The bees had to move wood chips to have access to the mushrooms, and Stamets noticed that they were sipping the droplets oozing from the mycelium, the fibers of fungus that look like cobwebs.

A few decades later, Stamets and a friend were discussing the problem of bee colony collapse that has been threatening the world’s bee populations. Problems such as viruses, parasites, chemicals, and a lack of foraging areas were discussed.

More:
https://www.techtimes.com/articles/234957/20181008/mans-waking-dream-leads-to-novel-insight-on-how-mushrooms-could-save-the-worlds-bees.htm

[eppur_se_muova]

1. Plausible hypothesis -- most of our antibiotics were discovered in molds. nt

[JudyM]

2. Ok this is a great post.

I’ve been reading for several years about how beneficial Asian mushrooms are (like reishi, mentioned here) for human health. They boost our immunity, lower blood pressure and show promise of helping to fight cancer. That they help bees too is exciting.

You find such interesting articles, Judi.